Babar Azam is one of the most talented players to come out of Pakistan in recent times. The right-handed batsman averages above 50 in both ODIs and T20Is. Azam has been playing some excellent cricket in white-ball format for the past two years, but last year he boosted his game in Test matches.
In the last year of Red Ball cricket, he scored a lot. On their tour of South Africa in 2018-19, Babar Azam had some fantastic knocks, where he took on players like Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada.
Dale Steyn says he enjoyed the battle against Babar Azam.
Dale Steyn praised Babar Azam’s innings at Newlands Ground in Cape Town in January 2019. He scored 72 off just 87 balls in the second innings. During this innings, Azam hit 15 fours and played a superb inning despite his team’s going down. Steyn underestimated Pakistan’s batsman’s ability and bowled a few balls, which he scored.
“I love the fact that Babar Azam came out and played with that aggressive mindset. I know I bowled five consecutive half volleys to give him a chance to play that role. I thought he would send it wide, but he could get on top of it too. “
Steyn further said that he enjoyed the war with Azam and was looking forward to the next time they would face it. He found that the innings was a step for Babar.
“He’s gone on to make a billion runs from now. He used it as a step because he took a bowler; he was the best in his eyes. It was great. Everyone was happy to be a cat and mouse thing. He is happy to be as good as he is,” he added.
